Elara followed the male servant downstairs. On the ground floor, many private rooms with tea seats were already rented. The scholars who were waiting to see Elara get kicked out started to shout immediately.
"Hey? She got kicked out so fast? I knew she was no good, but this is way earlier than I expected."
"She is really an ignorant woman who does not know anything. She only lasted less than an incense stick's time before being kicked out by Lianyi Tower. Earlier, she was so arrogant, insulting the ancient sages and even pointing fingers at us. Now, let's see how she dares to speak to us!"
"She is out now, so the purple jade stone can be shared, right? What a sudden windfall! Haha, I hope more stupid women with money like her will come. I will never worry about food and drink in my life!"
Almost all the men, whether they bet or not, believed Elara could not solve the question. They thought she was about to be kicked out by Lianyi Tower.
Elara followed the male servant behind her. Because she just earned her first big money, she was very happy. She almost forgot there was still a second smaller pot of money waiting for her to take.
These old fools who lived in a small world seemed afraid she would forget them. One by one, they were eager to come out and suffer.
Elara looked at the old gentlemen around her, who stared at her with contempt and mockery. She was about to speak, but the male servant leading her suddenly stopped.
He stood straight and looked around seriously.
"Everyone, be quiet. Lianyi Tower has always welcomed talented people regardless of gender. Miss Bai just solved Lianyi Tower's first-level hard question and became our honored guest. Please keep your mouths clean. Otherwise, Lianyi Tower will no longer serve you."
When the male servant spoke, the old gentlemen who wanted to see Elara fail or get the money suddenly felt like their throats were strangled.
After a while, some people slowly found their voices.
"What? No way!"
"Impossible! How could she solve it?"
"In such a short time? She must have cheated! Lianyi Tower, don't be fooled!"
"Yes! She cheated! Investigate! Investigate hard!"
The old gentlemen who could not believe it started to shout loudly. Those who bet their most valuable treasures shouted the loudest, accusing Elara of cheating.
The male servant was not nervous. Lianyi Tower spread across many countries. Though he only managed this place in Plumera Kingdom, his experience was far beyond many scholars, so he was not afraid of this scene.
He raised his hand. At once, the guards with big swords half-drew their blades and surrounded the loudest old gentlemen.
The sharp blades scared these foolish men. Their faces turned pale, and they dared not shout anymore.
When the area was quiet, the male servant stepped forward, looking coldly around.
"If you do not believe, Mr. Arieck is upstairs. The young lady's answers were checked by Mr. Arieck himself. You can go upstairs and ask him yourself."
When he said Mr. Arieck's name, the old gentlemen who were scared turned even paler. The doubt and disbelief on their faces became confusion, then hesitation, and finally disbelief.
It seemed Mr. Arieck was very famous. Just mentioning his name made these old scholars hesitate.
Elara remembered the young man in blue clothes with a sly smile. She decided to openly ask about Mr. Arieck's background later, under the excuse of looking for a handsome man. If possible, she also wanted to find out about the young man in white clothes beside him.
The male servant saw the scholars' faces showing painful half-belief. He snorted coldly, turned, and smiled politely at Elara.
He bowed respectfully and called someone to bring a piece of jade in a delicate box. He handed it to Elara with both hands.
"Miss, this is the symbol that you solved Lianyi Tower's hard question. It also means you are the most honored guest of Lianyi Tower. Please keep this jade plaque. Wherever you go on this continent to another Lianyi Tower, this will guarantee you the best treatment."
Seeing the finely crafted jade plaque respectfully presented to Elara, the old scholars who were already pale looked even worse.
Especially those who thought they had already won the bet and the purple jade stone was almost theirs. Seeing Elara receive the jade plaque with respect, their eyes almost turned red.
Did they really lose to such a young woman?
How could they lose to such a young woman?
The old gentlemen never thought they would lose to a woman they looked down on. They had bet their most precious treasures, some passed down for generations. Now, everything was lost.
Not only was their dream of a comfortable life gone, but also their support for survival after today was gone.
Elara saw the old gentlemen's faces fall and their eyes turn red. They looked at her like they wanted to eat her alive.
She felt even happier.
Elara was not someone who accepted losses easily. In any case, she liked to take revenge on the spot, loudly and boldly, in front of others, with exciting and full revenge.
So, to the old men with red eyes, Elara calmly accepted the jade plaque from the male servant.
Then she called Guard Uno from behind.
In front of everyone, she took all the messy treasures placed opposite her purple jade stone without missing a single thing.
Around the large old masters, whose eyes were almost bleeding red with anger, she arrogantly raised her hand and bowed slightly to everyone, elegantly making a circle of greetings.
Her words sounded very beautiful, but no matter how you listened, there was an attitude of daring to make others angry without regret.
"Today, this young lady is truly happy. Not only did I get so many treasures from Lanyi Tower, but I also received many extra gifts from all of you big brothers and old masters. Haha, I really thank all the big brothers for their generous gifts. I happily accept this unexpected windfall."
"Of course, if any big brothers still feel dissatisfied, next time you must bring your own treasures to bet with me again."
"This young lady's promise stays the same — the bet is always this purple jade stone. If any big brother thinks he can solve a puzzle and win against me, bring your treasure, and we will bet at Lanyi Tower again!"
The old masters around, already furious, were even more choked with anger. They could clearly hear the cold sarcasm hidden in her words!
Solve a puzzle? If they could solve it, would they still be here?
Watching their precious treasures, saved and cherished for most of their lives, being taken one by one by this woman, they trembled with anger and were heartbroken, feeling jealousy.
In short, they were as regretful now as they had been confident when betting earlier!
Someone could no longer hold back and pointed at Elara with hatred, saying, "It's true! Only women and villains are hard to raise!"
"Just a little gain, and you're so proud! This is hardly proper behavior!"
Seeing the men around, furious and ready to use their few learned insults to verbally attack her, Elara was not going to tolerate them. She coldly responded with a sharp voice, directly firing back.
"Brother, what do you mean by 'Only women and villains are hard to raise'? Ridiculous! Who is this young lady to your family? Does she eat your food or wear your clothes, relying on you? Do you even know how much I spend on food and clothes every day? How can you just open your mouth and say such things? Isn't this just slandering my reputation without reason?"
As she spoke, she sighed and looked down with disdain. "So this is what your so-called sages teach? Just because you don't want to admit losing to a woman like me, you deliberately slander my name? Tsk, you claim to be scholars, but I think you're the ones embarrassing your sages. If the sages knew, they would be too ashamed to call you scholars!"
"You!" The man was furious, eyes red with anger, but could only stammer "You, you, you" without finding words to reply, almost collapsed from rage!
Elara ignored him and moved on to the next target:
"And you, what do you mean by 'just a little gain is hardly respectable'? Brother, are your eyes blind or your brain broken? Have you forgotten that the puzzle I just solved was one that none of you so-called learned men could solve?"
"The puzzle none of you could solve was solved by me. I even gained the status of a top guest at Lanyi Tower. How is that just a little gain? And I solved it by my own skill, but in your mouth, it's called taking advantage?"
"Who exactly am I taking advantage of? Is it you, who can't even solve four puzzles with your wooden brain?"
"You! You actually…" Another man was almost knocked back by Elara's words!
Elara continued in a mocking tone:
"So I think you, sir, studied your so-called sages in vain. Just because I am better than you, a big man, you lost face all the way home, so you are angry and humiliated, deliberately making up insults against me, right?"
Elara hadn't felt this good in a long time, enjoying the feeling of fighting back against people. It was really... refreshing and satisfying.
As the CEO of the Xia family, she rarely had a chance to directly argue with people face to face. If she wanted to criticize, it had to be indirectly, using hints and innuendo.
But now, with a hat and a cloak covering her whole body, her identity hidden, and unable to stand this group of decayed men pretending to be sages, Elara was as free as she wanted.
After all, once she changed clothes later, no one would recognize her.
Now that she had this cover, if not now, then when?
Several men who were hit by Elara's words felt dizzy and trembling, almost about to faint.
The other old masters nearby, who had wanted to join in mocking Elara, saw how fierce she was and how sharp her words were enough to make people angry to death.
They exchanged glances, silently deciding to swallow back their words.
This woman was not easy to mess with. It was better not to provoke her.
They didn't want to end up like the two men who couldn't say a word back and were furious to death.
Though silent, Elara did not let them off easily.
Sure enough, after her eyes scanned their faces, she suddenly said:
"Speaking of which, it's not just those two men. Everyone who took part in this bet was extremely sarcastic to me just now, thinking I was just a woman who couldn't possibly solve the puzzles you all studied hard for years and failed to solve, and you insulted me many times."
Hearing this, everyone tensed, feeling uneasy.
Then Elara continued:
"So, you self-proclaimed gentlemen who have studied the sages, shouldn't you be reflecting and apologizing when you make mistakes?"
"You wrongly accused and insulted me just now, thinking I'm no match for you. But the truth is, you big men really can't beat me. So shouldn't you apologize for your previous insults and misunderstandings?"
The old masters around were angry to death hearing her biting words, even though they were prepared for it.
Apologize? She had insulted them many times already in disguised ways, and now she wanted them to apologize?
But Elara insisted. She liked to crush those she hated. Those who insulted her before were quick to open their mouths. If she were a normal woman of this time, she might have hung herself after being insulted, and these men would have applauded.
So don't blame her for forcing them now.
She never spared anyone who offended her. She was never a nice person.
So, with the men angry but unable to speak, Elara added more fuel in the name of sages:
"Ah, so now you know you are wrong, but still refuse to apologize? Is this what your sages teach? No need to apologize when you're wrong? Doesn't that make you shameless? That is what it really means to be disgraceful scholars. Tsk, just thinking about it makes me ashamed for you."